Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

andromache_2

Hi everyone!

Not posted for ages as haven't been doing much though I have read and caught up on all the posts. Congrats on finishing your dissertation slowyfading! My first exam is in 24 days (not that I'm counting) and I'm seriously wishing I'd been more disciplined over Easter.

*repeats to self... it'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine...*

In bad news, I've lost my key :rolleyes: which means £15 to replace it... better than if I had my own place and had to get a locksmith, I suppose. In good news, someone put a kitkat in my pigeonhole the other day with a cute note exhorting me to take a break from revision but I have NO IDEA who it was and it's driving me mental... which was obviously the idea! Anyway, free chocolate has to be good for the purposes of this challenge

I've managed to go the whole week without getting any more food in, tho I will have to spoil that tomorrow as I need another tin of chopped tomatoes :rotfl: either way it's not bad I reckon. I've also sold a couple of things on ebay! very exciting! I've not made much as they were only a couple of free boots coupons but I reckon now I've got the hang of it I can get commission from my parents for listing some of their [STRIKE]junk[/STRIKE] well-loved possessions when I go home

Right, well, I have a supervision this afternoon so I'd better get cracking with the work but I'm really in the mood for wandering around outside as all the flowers are coming through and the college gardens look gorgeous :T

Happy frugalling all!

wornoutmumoftwo

Sorry, I've lost the plot for the first third of the year haven't a clue what I've spent the last couple of months so thought I'd ask.....

Can I start again from the 1st May?

My figure would be £2692.30 + Child benefit (Over 35 weeks)

Thank you very much.....:rotfl:

bails

Welcome back on the wagon WOMOT!
Thanks SF, will need to read that again when I've got time and then have a go - off charideee shopping now :j

Frugaldom

Good morning/almost afternoon everyone. I know it isn't quite lunchtime yet, but I had to come and see if anyone had read this.

I don't know how to link to it, but I'm sure John won't mind me quoting him, as he's quoting someone else. If he queries it, tell him it was NYK Media that did it... :rotfl:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Starbucks is no longer an affordable luxury for some people[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Starbucks has warned that UK sales are starting to turn down. Chief executive Howard Schultz, quoted in the Evening Standard, told analysts that he had seen “some early signs of softness in traffic in our UK stores… Starbucks coffee and premium coffee experience has, over time, been an affordable luxury. And at this time, it isn’t for some people.”[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It looks like all those personal finance articles on budgeting – you know, the ones that point out that if you spend £2 each working day on coffee, that’s more than £40 a month - are taking their toll. And no wonder. £40 a month is just about enough to offset a decent chunk of your increased mortgage payments, if you’ve just come off a fixed rate. [/FONT]

(Quoted from John Stepek's article in Money Morning, as per www.moneyweek.com Thanks John! :T)

Couldn't resist pointing it out in light of what's being discussed here at the moment.

MarkyMarkD

Hi all

Sorry I've not been around much recently ... I am still rather distracted by some stuff that's going on (or, more to the point, not going on). More about that later maybe.

Re bails's multi-quoting question and SF's multi-quoting response, you can certainly do it the way SF does it and it's the only proper way to do it on this forum, so that you can actually click the "view post" button next to the beginning of the quote and go straight to it.

You can, though, also do a cheat's method (which I often do) which is to "properly" quote the first one, and then to just copy the text for the other bits you want to quote but manually type e.g. [ quote=slowlyfading ] without the spaces, before the quote and [ /quote ] without the spaces, after the quote. This looks nearly the same but the direct link clicking doesn't work.

Other forums using similar software actually offer a multi-quote facility. I will have a search around and see if anyone's previously requested it, and if not, suggest it myself as I think people would find it useful.

MMD

Update: people have previously suggested the multi-quote facility is introduced, and the reason it hasn't been is that the version of vBulletin used for MSE is too old. But that response was dated 18 months ago so I've sent a PM to MSE Neil to ask whether it still applies or whether we could now have proper multi-quote.

dfw844

Hi everyone,

Well done slowlyfading! I remember that feeling so well, it will only topped by the end of exams!!

My favourite thing when I finally graduated was to read loads of magazines and trashy novels because I'd spent so long only reading 'real' stuff (by that I mean boring stuff!).

I've been looking over my budget again. Are we allowed to count extra income against what we spend in this challenge? Because in April I spent £91 over budget. But I made an extra £168 over my salary through surveys, self-employed hobby and floggind old junk on ebay. Does this exonerate (sp?) me? Or am I just making excuses for being pathetic and not managing to live on an ample amount (considering there is only me to clothe / feed / entertain).

And Nyk - it's me!! I'm causing the crash to Starbucks profits because I just won't go in, no matter how much I want one I just won't go in! I never used to buy daily, but weekly, certainly... My downfall is when my train to work is delayed as I actually I have time to stop as I'm not running to my platform!

xx

Mollymop5

Guess what I just got in the post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A hand written letter from THAT NURSE! Unfortunately I need to return to the surgery and have one of the tests redone.I was shaking when I read the letter.I rang the surgery straight away and said I wanted to make an appointment but that I didn't want to be seen by her ever again.I also said I had written a letter of complaint.The receptionist was very good and said I'd need to actually fill in one of their forms and that I can pick one up from reception.I was given an appointment with someone else.
This is so inconvienient too as I have to cancell and reake my doctors appointment now as the results won't be back in time :eek:

lingojingo

Mollymop5 wrote: »

Guess what I just got in the post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A hand written letter from THAT NURSE! Unfortunately I need to return to the surgery and have one of the tests redone.I was shaking when I read the letter.I rang the surgery straight away and said I wanted to make an appointment but that I didn't want to be seen by her ever again.I also said I had written a letter of complaint.The receptionist was very good and said I'd need to actually fill in one of their forms and that I can pick one up from reception.I was given an appointment with someone else.
This is so inconvienient too as I have to cancell and reake my doctors appointment now as the results won't be back in time :eek:

Oh Mollymop you poor thing! Still, at least you've taken the plunge and told the receptionist - now perhaps something will get done about the awful nurse at last.

dfw844

Mollymop well done for standing up for yourself! I was really shaken by your story too as I am very bad at having bloods taken (it only takes one bad nurse to put you off for life...).

xx

Frugaldom

Hi Marky, hope you get your stuff or lack of) sorted out soon, you know us frugalers won't be straying far from here so this (financial) fold is always ready for your return. Good idea about requesting a simple multi-quote system - if it's really, really simple

ShazMO2 - I know nothing about sharedealing in real terms related to the stock market. I just find it interesting. I mean, it's just dealing like you would deal in anything, like Bails going to the charity shop and picking up a bargain then hoping she can sell it again and make a small profit. The item might not sell, it might cost more to go to the charity shop, buy it, bring it home and list it on eBay, but the fun of carrying out the trade with the hope of making something from it is far more exciting, for me, than ordinary gambling, scratch cards or the Lottery. Apart from that, if you don't want to sell, your item (shares) will either decrease or increase in value by the minute, day, week etc... To play, you save whatever amount you are willing to spend on it as a hobby, not work or an investment, just a hobby. Search around for a site that allows you to buy and sell shares without charging you a set-up or annual fee and don't forget to count in the cost of trading. Just do a search for self trade share dealing and compare the costs and watch out for any small print. Some offer FREE introductory trading days. Then it's a case of play the game and remember that it is like gambling - whatever you spend has the potential to be lost completely. Penny shares, as far as I am aware, are shares that can be bought for pennies rather than pounds each. Mine cost me just over 3p each including the £10 dealing fee, so I got over 4000 for my £150. I need them to go over 3.6p each before I can sell and make a small profit that also covers the selling fee.